


Baby, It's Cold Outside

by aeowa



Series: The Collegiate Misadventures of HuiDawn [1]
Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Anyways, College AU, Cute, Fluff, LITERALLY, LMAO, M/M, One Shot, POV Third Person, Skinship, Snow, Study Group, Winter, arent we all tho, edawn is so touchy lol, have fun, hui is a nervous gay, i cant say i know what im doing anymore, i imagine the setting is november, i lose my shit over my own writing, i wrote this in 2 whole months, soft, sometimes i forget what im capable of, this bitch sure does love commas, this is so lame, who allowed this, winter drabbles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 11:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13317426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeowa/pseuds/aeowa
Summary: “Oh, wow. This… is quite a view,” Dawn’s voice was low as he spoke. He looked to Hui on his left with a soft smile on his lips. He was still tightly holding Hui’s hand, but made no move to let go. Dawn’s hand fit very nicely in Hui’s hand. He fought against the desire to look down at their combined hands; that would make the reality set in, and Dawn might pull away. They continued to look at the street below in comfortable silence, the snow falling around them softly. How romantic. Hui noticed that Dawn’s hand was not cold anymore, and that the blonde had laid his head on Hui’s shoulder. He was still holding Hui’s right arm, and the grip of Dawn’s left hand was still firm.





	Baby, It's Cold Outside

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by the snow falling late at night after i left the library to head back to my dorm. Hopefully its as Soft as i imagined it. Also, I used Hyojong’s short version of his stage name, Dawn, because I felt that it fit his character in this story. One more thing, I listened to “Organic Song” for the majority of the writing process, so if you wanna get the full experience, give it a listen. It was a shit summery, I'm sorry. No one said the English major life made sense.  
> Enjoy!

Hui arrived in good time to the library to meet the other members of his linguistics project. He was welcomed by a wall of warm air as the doors closed behind him. _It’s gotten real cold real fast; I wonder when it will snow?_ He unzipped his parka and grabbed his phone to check the group message again.

_Hui: are we meeting on the first or second floor??_

_Dawn: i got a table in the main room on the first floor all the way to the left by the big windows. im wearing a forest green flannel also, if that helps_

_Aaron: i’ll look out for you! :)_

_Eleanour: I’ll be coming right off my work shift so I’ll be a few minutes late. Don’t do anything important without me!_

Hui wasn’t sure who Dawn or Aaron were. He recognized Eleanour because they sat next to each other in the first lecture of the semester. He didn’t know the other people from lecture; putting names to faces wasn’t a strong point for Hui. _Isn’t there an Aaron in my discussion for this class? Maybe it’s a different Aaron?_ _I guess I’ll find out._ He walked to the end of the hallway, which opened into a large room full of student-occupied tables, laptops and notebooks scattered amongst printed-out lecture slides and homework assignments. It was equally as comfortable as it was anxiety-inducing. Perfect for a university library.

Hui checked his phone again. Dawn was already there, apparently. _Dark green flannel- no, forest green flannel. Is there a difference?_ He looked towards the left and saw a person at an empty table, wearing a forest green flannel shirt. _This must be them._

Walking up to the table, Hui spoke up, “Hey, are you Dawn?”

Dawn was a guy with blonde hair that covered his eyes when he had his head down. It almost came down the his jaw. He looked up from his notebook and brushed his hair out of his eyes. He reached out his hand to shake, “Yup, that’s me. Are you Hui? I recognize you from lecture. You ask some interesting questions.”

Hui shook his hand and had to disguise his sharp intake of breath as a cough. Dawn’s hands were awfully cold. _Has this guy been dunking them in ice water or something?_ Something else about Dawn that was odd were his eyes: they were icy blue, but there was something warm about them. Quite a contrast to his hands. These eyes were attentive. Hui couldn't look away. He distracted himself by setting his backpack down and shedding his parka, and took off his beanie to stuff into his backpack. He sat at the head of the table, with Dawn directly to his right.

“This is a good table you got. It’ll be nice to look out the window in despair when I don’t know what I’m doing,” Hui said after pulling out his laptop. Dawn laughed at that, and Hui felt overly-satisfied with himself. Dawn had a cute laugh and a nice smile. Hui wanted to see more of it. _Not now, gay thoughts._

“Yeah, I’ve been here for a lil’ while so I was able to snag a place that’s good for group work,” Dawn replied.

“So… have you looked at the rubric for the project yet? There’s a part about us creating animated phrase structure trees, which I have no idea how to do….” Hui pulled up a pdf file of the project’s rubric to show Dawn what he was talking about. Dawn leaned over to see the computer screen, and suddenly he was very close to Hui.

“Do you mind?” Dawn asked as he motioned to take over Hui’s laptop.

“Go ahead.”

Dawn didn’t pick up Hui’s laptop to move it closer to himself, but instead he placed his left arm on the table in between Hui’s arms and began scrolling. He seemed completely unbothered as he searched through the pdf file, looking for the specific part Hui was talking about. Hui was frozen again.

“It’s on the third page.”

“Got it,” Dawn found the part Hui was talking about and leaned closer to read it properly. Dawn was a very intriguing and odd dude. He made Hui feel fuzzy in his stomach. _This is new._

“Okay, so,” Dawn finally spoke, pulling Hui out of his totally-not-gay thoughts. He moved back into his own chair but was still leaning close to point at the computer screen. Dawn talked with his hands a lot. “We have to show the consecutive formation of the phrase structure trees. We just have to do an animated version of how we would create them for the given grammar. We’ll also have to include the phrase structure rules, but that’s super easy. We can do this in a powerpoint, or we can actually animate it using an animation software. I have that on my laptop. I can do it if you want since I’m taking an animation class this term. I guess we should wait until-”

“Hey guys! I’m Aaron, I’m doing the linguistics project with you. I’m not late, am I? We said 6pm, right?” Dawn and Hui looked at the guy who had just appeared. He quickly set his stuff down across from Dawn and moved to pull out his materials.

“No, you’re not late. We were just going over the rubric. Have you looked at it?” Hui asked. Dawn was still abnormally close to Hui. He was making a face at Aaron- one of contempt. _Why? Do they have beef or something?_ Dawn let his left arm drop onto the table again, this time his hand was on top of Hui’s arm. _Do people normally do this with people they’ve just met? Seems like a close-friend kinda thing. Oh god, would people think we’re a couple? Does Aaron think we’re together?_

“Yeah, I’ve looked it all over. I’ve already written down a couple of ideas on how we can structure the project. We should probably wait for Eleanour before we divvy up the parts, though,” Aaron finally sat down. He had short-cropped, dark hair and thick rimmed glasses, and was wearing a generic university jumper. He pulled out his own laptop and a notebook, along with a large pencil case. Dawn retracted his arm and moved back into his seat fully. Hui was totally not even a little bit upset.

Dawn returned to his own notebook and scribbled some lines down. Under the table, he stretched out his legs. Hui felt a foot bump his own, and saw a jean-covered leg and Timberland boot over his own legs. He looked back up with a raised eyebrow to Dawn. The blonde tucked a strand of hair behind his left ear, peeked over at Hui, and winked. He had purposely hidden his face from Aaron behind his own laptop. _What is up with this guy?_ Hui swallowed a lump his throat and felt heat creep up his face.

After 10 minutes of unexplainable tension between Hui and Dawn, and Aaron typing away at his laptop, Eleanour finally arrived. She sat down on Aaron’s left, as Dawn had placed his backpack on the seat to his right. _He did that on purpose_ , Hui thought. He didn’t know why, but this thought just popped into his head. _This guy is driving me crazy and I’ve only been acquainted with him for 15 minutes. I’m in trouble._

~

The project was easy enough to figure out. Even though their group had only four people, they got a lot of work done in two and a half hours. There were no major arguments over the project, just that Aaron wanted to “format the lexicons in a way that’ll make it easy to read for people with no previous knowledge of linguistics” but Eleanour argued that “Professor is the only one grading this and we are in college after all, so I think it’s fine that it’s in an advanced format”. Eleanour won that argument. Dawn and Hui took over the animation and explanation to clarify everything, so everything went smoothly.

By 8:30pm, Eleanour announced that she had to leave to take her dog for a walk and clean up her flat. Aaron followed some time after because he had other homework to attend to. Dawn made it obvious that he was staying in the library without saying much, and Hui stated that he wanted to continue organizing everything, and to prepare for their next group work session tomorrow. This was a small white lie. Hui actually _did_ want to organize stuff, but it was moreso his thoughts rather than the project. _Okay, so what the hell is up with this Dawn kid? Is he flirting with me? Is he gay? Is he trolling me? He seems to like skinship a lot, but that’s not something you do between strangers, right? Is he just a handsy guy? And what was up with that wink earlier? Complete with tucking his hair behind his ear??? That’s totally a flirting move. That was also really gay. He is my type… but I don't know if its mutual. What if I make a move and it turns out he was totally not flirting? That would ruin the whole dynamic of the project, and our grade would suffer. Oh boy, I’m totally and entirely screwed. Do I try something? What do I do? Do I ask him on a date? Do I ask him for his number? No- I already have his number. Step one down. That still doesn’t help me, though._

Ten minutes of silence had passed between Dawn and Hui, and Hui could think of nothing else to distract himself with. He couldn’t work on the project anymore, and he certainly couldn't blankly stare at his computer screen any longer.

Dawn spoke before he could, “Hui, where do you live by the way? On campus?”

“Hm? Oh I live in West Hall. It’s like a 15 minute walk from here. What about you?”

“I live in the South Hall, which is like right across the street from West Hall, right?”

“Oh yeah, it is. Huh…”

“Wanna walk back together, then? I’m almost done with the animations, wanna check it out? I think you seem like the leader of this group so…” Dawn moved his laptop over to share the screen with Hui. Dawn moved close again, but not like last time. So, Hui leaned to his right, until his shoulder was touching Dawn’s shoulder. Hui felt electric. This guy is special. That much was true.

After watching the two animations Dawn, had worked on, Hui complimented his group member. “These are really good, man. It just looks like an invisible hand is drawing them on the screen.”

“Thanks, it wasn’t that hard,” Dawn tucked his hair behind his ear again. Hui’s heart leaped.

“Wanna head out, then?” Hui asked before doing something stupid.

“Yeah, sure.”

They packed up their things and layered up to stay warm. Hui popped his beanie on, and noticed that Dawn also had a beanie, but his had a giant pom-pom on the top. He also wore a vivid red scarf, looped many times around his neck. _Ah, shit he looks cute._ The two boys headed towards the grand library entrance to meet the cold air of winter. Hui noticed that it was softly snowing outside. _It’s about time._ He headed towards his dorm building as he stuffed his hands into his mittens.

“Hey, Dawn, do you-” Hui realized that Dawn was not walking next to him. Hui looked around and saw that Dawn was several meters behind him, staring into the dark night sky under the light of a tall lantern. He looked like a character out of a dramatic romance movie, like some sort of bildungsroman where the protagonist finally found the meaning of love. _When did I become this cringey?_ Hui didn’t feel like yelling so he walked back to where Dawn was standing.

“Hey, are you good?” Hui asked, looking back and forth from Dawn’s face to the night sky.

Dawn didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he held his hands out in front of himself to catch the snow in his hands. “It’s so pretty. It just feels like little cold spots all over my hands and face.”

“Yeah that’s snow for ya,” Hui replied, taking in the other’s face while he was distracted. Dawn’s lips were pouted slightly as he watched snowflake after snowflake touch his skin and immediately melt. _Dammit, he looks really cute_. Hui didn’t want to interrupt whatever Dawn was doing, not that it wasn’t important, but Hui also didn’t want to be out in the cold any longer than necessary. He just continued staring at Dawn, not saying anything.

Dawn finally met Hui’s eyes, and Hui was thankful for the darkness and the cold breeze that disguised his creeping blush. “I’m good. Let’s go,” Dawn finally said.

The two finally set out for their dorm buildings, not moving particularly fast, despite the cold. Hui had a million things he wanted to tell Dawn, and a million questions to ask. But would Dawn care? He decided to go for it, anyway.

“So, Dawn, tell me about yourself. What are you studying? What do you want to go into?”

“Uhm, I’m not totally sure what I’m gonna study, but I think I want to go into the arts. Anything creative. What about yourself?”

“I think I want to pursue music, but I just don’t think I can make a good living from that, unless I’m a producer, or something. It’s a risky field nowadays.”

“Well that’s bold of you to try,” Dawn’s voice was muffled. He had zipped his parka collar all the way up and had hidden his face in his scarf. _Was he embarrassed? No, stop over thinking it, he’s probably just cold._ They kept bumping shoulders on their walk, and Hui had to hide the small smile playing at his lips. He could imagine them holding hands, clasped tightly in one of their pockets to fight off the cold air. Hui hid his face too.

“You said you were taking an animation course this term. Do you want to be an animator?” Hui asked, peeking at the odd blonde boy on his left.

“Well, I think I want to, but my parents tell me that it isn’t a very secure job. I want to be able to repay my parents for everything they’ve done for me, you know? So I need to get a stable job. But yeah, that’s essentially what I want right now,” They both slowed their pace, Hui listening intently, Dawn talking with his hands again.

“So do you really like snow, or something?” Hui asked. “You seemed pretty enamoured back there, staring into the sky and everything.”

“Oh, yeah, that… Yeah, I guess I do…” Dawn’s voice sounded awkward, embarrassed almost, and Hui noticed that he had slowed his pace again. “We, uh, we don’t get much snow in my hometown. It’s always been something special to me. Also the fairy lights everywhere. It’s just nice to see. It makes everything all the more festive.”

“Well, you came to the right university. Our winters are nothing but snowy.”

“That’s good.”

Hui suddenly had an idea. It was a bad idea, but the prospect of having to separate from Dawn when their conversation was finally going somewhere outweighed everything. “Since you like all the wintry festivities so much, can I show you something? It’s kind of a secret, but I think you will like it…” Hui hoped he didn’t sound like a creeper.

Dawn stopped in his tracks. Snow was falling softly all about him. It was in his hair, on his scarf, and on his beanie. “Secret like…?” He asked.

“Well it’ll ruin the surprise if I just tell you.”

“Sure, then, why not?”

“Okay follow me.”

Without thinking, Hui grabbed Dawn’s hand to lead him on a hard-right from their previous course. Dawn didn’t protest, but instead allowed himself to be lead. Hui took Dawn to one of the university’s main streets. He enjoyed walking along the sidewalk here because the trees were laced with fairy lights from December to February. The street was lined by new and old buildings alike, some academic, some recreational. The older buildings looked gothic and had [walkable rooftops](https://media.architecturaldigest.com/photos/585c5e439a1af9cb3992ee4a/master/w_640,c_limit/gothic-revival-pittsburgh-05.jpg). Hui found access to one of the older building’s maintenance stairwell, and it had roof access. He would often sneak up there to clear his head, read, or watch the street below.

Hui dropped Dawn’s hand as soon as he realized it was still in his grip. The two crossed the street, Hui whispered to “act natural”, and they slipped into the building unnoticed. As soon as they were in the stairwell, Dawn started to speak, but Hui basically tackled the blonde into silence and put his mitten-covered hands over Dawn’s mouth. Hui ripped off a mitten to put his index finger over his lips, ordering silence, at least until they reached the roof. Hui helped Dawn up off the floor, they both re-adjusted themselves, and then headed up the five flights of stairs as quietly as possible.

The roof-access door was awkward to climb through, but not impossible. It was difficult with their backpacks, but eventually both Hui and Dawn were on the rooftop. Hui immediately walked to the stone bannister to look at the street below. The snow was coming down beautifully, and it looked like the perfect winter scene with the trees lit up on the sides of the road. Hui was going to say something to Dawn, but the blonde was once again not next to him. He turned around, and saw Dawn still next to the door.

“What’s wrong? The view’s really pretty, I promise,” Hui said.

“No, I’m good back here,” Dawn’s voice wavered.

“Are- are you afraid of heights? It’s okay, the roof is flat and there’s a stone bannister, see? It’s fine, I promise. I’ll prove it,” Hui tried to make his voice sound reassuring. He took off his right mitten and extended his bare hand to Dawn. Hopefully Dawn would get the hint to hold it. He did. He reached out his left hand slowly, uncertainty all over his face. His hand was still very cold, but his grip was very strong. As Hui lead Dawn to the edge of the roof, the blonde’s grip tightened, and his right hand came up to grip Hui’s arm. Hui could hide his stupid grin no longer. He watched Dawn’s face as they made it to the banister. Dawn’s eyebrows were knit, but as he peered onto the street below, his expression slowly relaxed.

“Oh, wow. This… is quite a view,” Dawn’s voice was low as he spoke. He looked to Hui on his left with a soft smile on his lips. He was still tightly holding Hui’s hand, but made no move to let go. Dawn’s hand fit very nicely in Hui’s hand. He fought against the desire to look down at their combined hands; that would make the reality set in, and Dawn might pull away. They continued to look at the street below in comfortable silence, the snow falling around them softly. _How romantic_. Hui noticed that Dawn’s hand was not cold anymore, and that the blonde had laid his head on Hui’s shoulder. He was still holding Hui’s right arm, and the grip of Dawn’s left hand was still firm.

“Hui… Why are you showing me this? I mean- it’s beautiful, and I love it- but why me? We just met, and you barely know me…”

  
“You really think I wasn’t paying attention to _all that_ in the library?”

It was then that Dawn pulled his hand out of Hui’s grasp. “I- I’m sorry, you seemed alright with it and I guess I didn’t know what I was thinking, I guess I went a little overboard, I- you just seem to me like-”

Hui stopped Dawn before he became any more flustered. He put his hands on the blonde’s shoulders and looked into his blue eyes. They were glowing a warm hue of blue from the lights of the street below. “Dawn, listen. It’s okay. It’s totally okay. If we’re being honest… I’m fine with it and I- I haven’t been handled like that- that gently- since I was a little kid and I kind of never realized how much I missed that, and how nice it felt to be touched like that so no, it doesn’t bother me at all, I like it. I don't think I’ve ever been that comfortable with someone before.” It was Hui’s turn to be flustered and embarrassed. He had never admitted such a thing to anyone before, and he didn’t think he ever would, let alone to a total stranger. But there was certainly something about Dawn, something Hui couldn’t put his finger on, but there was _something_. He just seemed like a trustworthy guy. And obviously Hui’s growing crush had something to do with it, but that’s not the point.

“Okay so,” Hui took in a breath of cold air and released it, watching it condense around his face and be swept away into the night sky. “I don’t know why I'm asking you this but I also know exactly why so I’m just gonna ask you anyways. Were you flirting with me earlier? In the library? I mean, I’m willing to believe you’re just a naturally touchy guy, but… you got me stumped, Dawn.”

Dawn looked at the road below, his eyes dancing through the fairy lights. He closed his eyes, gave a big sigh, and said, “Yes. I suppose I was.”

Hui felt immensely relieved and much more confident. “So, you like skin-to-skin contact? Like, being close to people, having someone special right underneath your fingertips?

“Y-yes.”

“Like this?”

Hui had taken one of Dawn’s hands into his own. He laced their fingers together tightly, and put his other hand on the back of Dawn’s neck. His skin was warm. Hui ran his fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“You don’t seem to think much of personal space, either?” They were merely inches apart. Hui wanted to be closer.

“I guess not.”

Dawn’s eyes shifted from Hui’s eyes to his lips. He knew what could happen next. _Hopefully, I won’t fuck it up. I’ll just ease into it. I’ll let him decide_.

“I want to know more about you. Tell me what you like. Holding hands? Resting on others’ shoulders? Hand at the back of the neck? A grazing of the arm? Tell me. Tell me how close you want to be.” Hui wanted to know what made Dawn comfortable.

“Yeah, I like holding hands and leaning on people I’m comfortable with. I like being in someone’s embrace. I’d rather be touching skin. It makes me feel secure.” Dawn’s skin was almost hot now. His eyes darted to Hui’s lips once again. Hui’s heart was hammering in his chest, but he was surprisingly calm. Moments of silence passed between them in heartbeats. The snow was falling in slow-motion. The cars passed below, giving off a slow passing of light. In those moments, Hui could see a redness had crept up Dawn’s neck, and spread to his face, and something told Hui that it was not because of the cold air.

“If you’re gonna kiss me,” Dawn said with a shy smirk, “get on with it.”

_Bingo_. Hui finally pulled Dawn closer, closing the gap between them. The kiss was sweet and simple. A gentle press of the lips. More than a peck, but nothing intense. Perfect for a first kiss. Nevertheless, Hui felt electric. He understood, then, what Dawn meant when he said he liked being close to people he’s comfortable with. It was a great feeling. Hui felt invincible. He also realized how well they fit together. Like two, odd pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that finally came together. Maybe, Dawn was just what Hui needed. Hui found himself smiling at these thoughts. He thought of the possibilities; he thought of the future with a smile that finally broke the kiss.

He could see himself and Dawn, holding hands as they walked to class. Enjoying a meal together. Studying in the Commons together. Having a night out together. Cuddling up in one of their dorm rooms and watching a movie together. Falling asleep in each other’s arms, counting heartbeats like sheep. Hui would cover Dawn in kisses, making sure the other knew he was loved. Hui would stare at Dawn as the other boy was poured over a book. They would make eye contact. Hui would continue to stare- an endearing smile and tender eyes. Dawn would quickly return to his book, a blush creeping up his cheeks. Hui would hug Dawn tightly, making sure he could feel the closeness. The comfort. The security. He would always have his hand on Dawn. _I’d rather be touching skin_.

All these thoughts overwhelmed Hui, causing him to blurt out softly, “I think I’m falling for you.”

Dawn’s eyes darted from Hui’s lips and back up to his eyes. “You stole the words right out of my mouth.”

Hui felt relieved once again and gained another confidence boost. He reached up to brush the hair out of Dawn’s eyes. His hand landed on Dawn’s cheek, his thumb brushing the other’s skin.

“What do you suppose we do now?”

“Head back to our dorms. I’m freezing. Not to break the moment or anything, it was wonderful, but I’m starting to lose feeling in my toes.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

They went back through the roof compartment and down the stairs, finally reaching the street below. The snow seemed to be slowing down. Hui hoped it would pick up again overnight. He got a small shock when he felt a hand slip into his, but suddenly remembered the previous events, which put a shy grin on his face. He wanted to pat himself on the back for not messing that all up. The two stopped at the bottom of the stairs by Dawn’s dorm building. Hui’s dorm building was right across the street.

“Well, this is where we depart, I’m afraid.” Hui said in a sad tone.

“We do have another group workshop tomorrow, though. You can’t get rid of me that easily, Hui.”

“You got me there.”

“I have one request before you go, however.” Dawn put his hand on Hui’s arm. Hui felt his heart thump in his chest. _Oh, god, what is it?_

“My lips are cold,” the blonde continued. “Warm them up for me?” He was wearing a very sly grin and his eyes sparkled.

“Yeah, I can do that.”

This time, Dawn reached up with both hands, cupped Hui’s face, and pressed their lips together. It was another short but sweet kiss. Hui’s heart thumped again.

“See ya tomorrow,” Dawn said softly before heading up the stone steps and entering the building. Hui watched him go, barely believing the amazing luck that had befallen him, and the amazing boy.

“Ya done good, Hui,” he said to himself. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> lmao this is my first kpop fanfic bc i was always too embarrassed to write them previously. there is just something about huidawn as a ship that makes my heart act all funny. one of my new year's resolutions was to put more of my writing public bc literally no one can judge me on this godforsaken website anyways. Remember kids: God is watching.


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